Former pharma executive faces criminal charges for role in opioid epidemic

This Aug. 29, 2018 photo shows an arrangement of prescription Oxycodone pills in New York. Figures from a 2017 survey released on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, show fewer people used heroin for the first time compared to the previous year, and fewer Americans misusing or addicted to prescription opioid painkillers. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) (Mark Lennihan / AP)

The former chief executive of Rochester Drug Cooperative was charged Tuesday with unlawfully distributing controlled substances, the first felony criminal charges filed against a major drug distributor in the catastrophic opioid epidemic.

Laurence F. Doud III has been charged with violations of the federal narcotics law and conspiracy to defraud the DEA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced.

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According to prosecutors, Doud, 75, and Rochester Drug Cooperative distributed “dangerous, highly addictive opioids to pharmacy customers that it knew were being sold and used illicitly,” including oxycodone and fentanyl, between 2012 and March 2017. Doud also allegedly deliberately instructed personnel not to report the distribution, as that would have likely resulted in a DEA investigation.

“Today’s charges should send shock waves throughout the pharmaceutical industry reminding them of their role as gatekeepers of prescription medication," DEA Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan said in a statement.

“The distribution of life-saving medication is paramount to public health; similarly, so is identifying rogue members of the pharmaceutical and medical fields whose diversion contributes to the record-breaking drug overdoses in America.”

Doud faces up to life in prison and at least 10 years for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. The conspiracy to defraud charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.

In the same investigation, William Pietruszewski, Rochester Drug Cooperative’s former chief compliance officer, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of willfully failing to file suspicious order reports with the DEA.

Rochester Drug Cooperative has agreed to settle the criminal and civil cases and pay a $20 million fine.